Jerry McClellan wanted to be an astronaut.
He studied science and engineering, graduated at the top of his class in high school, got a college degree in physics, joined the Air Force, and became a pilot.
Next stop, space, right? Well…no.
He figured he was on track to join the space race. Then things started to change. In the military, you rarely get your own choice, and you usually go where your superiors tell you to go.
About 20 years later, Jerry found himself preparing plans and policies for the possible deployment of, and defense against, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons in the Gulf War.
“I planned my life to be an astronaut, but a lot of green lights came on in other areas, and I followed them,” Jerry said as he discussed his career with the Sun Day. “They didn’t land me in a rocket or in the Shuttle, but they all worked out fine.”
McLellan started his Air Force career with dreams of space, but opportunity really made him fly. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)
In our 2015 observance of Veterans Day (November 11), the Sun Day is recognizing his impressive and honored 42-year career of military and civilian service to the national security and safety of our nation.
In his 26-year Air Force career, he attained the rank of colonel, flew more than 200 combat missions in Cambodia during the Vietnam War, became fluent in the French language, attended French Air War College in Paris and prepared a 70-page thesis on the future of nuclear weapons, earned a master’s in physics and nuclear weapons effects, and received a Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the Air Force’s highest honors. Just before he retired in 1992, he was chief of the nuclear, biological, and chemical defense division of U.S. Central Command, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. He supervised the preparation of joint policy, plans, and operations for the potential use of, and defense against, the above-mentioned weapons if they were deployed.
Asked a “what if” question about his involvement in nuclear weapons, McClellan answered modestly.
“I was in the middle of planning nuclear weapons defense, and potential offense. I was involved in the technical side of that activity. Fortunately, the people involved in the political side never asked us to actually carry out any offensive activities. We did, however, get involved in defense of chemical and biological attacks in the Gulf War,” he said.
One of his earliest assignments came totally unexpectedly.
“I was in the first group of new pilots assigned to fly the F-111A where I was an aircraft commander and administrative officer,” McClellan said. “That was at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. In 1971, they came to a group of us and assigned us to the Defense Language Institute at Monterey, California, to learn French. The Air Force was involved in the air war in French Indochina and they needed some forward observer pilots who could speak French to talk to French-speaking personnel.”
He was first in his class at Monterey, and eventually flew 202 combat missions in fighter control, and armed reconnaissance in Cambodia and Vietnam in 1971-72.
“I didn’t actually speak a lot of French there, because when we got there, most of the local personnel we communicated with spoke English.”
McClellan always soared to the top of anything he did. He was fifth in a class of 270 at Norwood High School in Cincinnati, where he grew up. He “did okay” at the University of Cincinnati where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and participated in a four-year ROTC program. He aced undergraduate pilot training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, was a distinguished graduate and first in his class en route to a master’s in nuclear weapon effects and physics at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and was the only American officer at the French Air War College in Paris and won a “very good” rating for his thesis on nuclear weapons. The entire two-year course, thesis, and his defense of it were in the French language.
In 15 duty stations throughout the world from 1966 to 1992, he quickly rose to high-level positions of leadership and training. In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, he also received air medals and the Defense Superior Service Medal.
“One of my best memories of my military service is serving under General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of American Forces in the Gulf War,” McClellan said. “As a colonel, I was two levels below him, and it was a privilege to work closely with him and learn a lot about the challenges of high level command in a combat situation.”
McClellan smiled and said, “In 1990, I was briefing him on a long-planned family party for all the folks at our station, when we got word that Iraq attacked Kuwait. We canceled that event and went to war in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. During the conflict, I worked at the headquarters in Florida and in Saudi Arabia.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1992, McClellan spent 16 years as a principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“They did a lot of work on the reliability and safety surveillance testing of nuclear weapons, among many other military and scientific research and development projects,” he said. “I functioned as a coordinator of activities and a test engineer. I also served as a project manager for leaders of a cooperative nuclear safety program with the French government.”
Finally, McClellan retired fully when he came to Sun City in May of 2009. He went to a patriotic program of the concert band. It brought back memories of his high school days, when he played saxophone, clarinet, and drums in bands in high school and college.
”They were looking for players, and I volunteered,” he said.
He now is president of the 55-piece group and performs as a percussionist.
“I am enjoying life here in Sun City with my dear wife, Joan. She has been the center of my universe since we married 16 years ago,” said McClellan.
A career for the ages. Certainly, a Veteran of the day.
